Mpumalanga / Limpopo

Best Time for Kruger & Mpumalanga

Africa's iconic Big 5 park plus Panorama Route waterfalls and hikes

Monthly scores for 5 activities — derived from multi-year wind, rainfall, sea temperature, and wave averages. No opinion: every score is calculated from the data.

Hiking — Month by Month

Scored on: Dry trails, mild–warm temp, low wind

Best months: Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct

Scale:ExcellentGoodFairPoorAvoid· key data point shown per cell

Jan

3/5

Fair

17d rain

Feb

3/5

Fair

17d rain

Mar

3/5

Fair

13.6d rain

Apr

4/5

Good

10d rain

May

5/5

Excellent

4.8d rain

Jun

5/5

Excellent

3.6d rain

Jul

5/5

Excellent

3.6d rain

Hols

Aug

5/5

Excellent

3.4d rain

Sep

5/5

Excellent

6d rain

Oct

4/5

Good

11d rain

Nov

3/5

Fair

12.2d rain

Dec

3/5

Fair

19.2d rain

Hols

Where to go

Blyde River Canyon trails
God's Window walks
Bourke's Luck Potholes trail
Three Rondavels viewpoint

Best Months per Activity

Months scoring 4/5 or higher. Click a row to explore that activity.

Hiking

Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct

Mountain Biking

May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep

Trail Running

Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep

Camping

May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep

Game Drives

May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep

Monthly Weather Averages

5-year averages 2020–2024 (ERA5 reanalysis)

Month	High/Low (°C)	Rain days	Wind (km/h)	School
January	27/18.2	17	14.2	Term
February	27/18.1	17	14.7	Term
March	26.5/16.8	13.6	12.9	Term
April	24.7/14.2	10	13.2	Term
May	23.6/11.6	4.8	12.3	Term
June	22/8.9	3.6	14.1	Term
July	22.2/8.5	3.6	14.3	Winter break
August	24.5/10.2	3.4	16.6	Term
September	26.5/12.6	6	16.5	Term
October	26.9/14.8	11	17.3	Term
November	28.2/16.7	12.2	16.1	Term
December	27.8/18	19.2	15.8	Summer break

How Scores Are Calculated

Each month receives a score of 1–5 per activity using fixed thresholds on the raw data. No editorial judgement — every score is derived directly from ERA5, NOAA ERSSTv5, and CMEMS figures.

Hiking:Dry trails, mild–warm temp, low wind

Mountain Biking:Dry trails, manageable temp, low wind

Trail Running:Cool–warm temp (heat risk ↑), low rain

Camping:Dry nights, mild temperatures (frost/heat penalty)

Game Drives:Dry season May–Sep: dense animals at water sources

Data Sources & Attribution

Wind speed, rainfall & air temperature

ERA5 reanalysis (ECMWF) via Open-Meteo Archive API. Daily-max 10 m wind speed, total daily precipitation, and 2 m temperature, 2020–2024, averaged to monthly means. License: CC-BY 4.0.

open-meteo.com

Data last fetched: 2026-05-02

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